Dai no Daibouken: Difference between revisions

{{work}}

''Dai's Big Adventure'', more or less. A [[Shounen]] manga (and later anime) series, spun off the wildly popular ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' RPG series, with a scenario by Sanjo Riku and art by Koji Inada. The titular hero, Dai, is a young kid who's been raised by monsters on Delmarine Island after he was washed ashore as an infant, the only survivor of a shipwreck, and who dreams of being an adventure hero. Since the [[Big Bad|Demon King]] had been defeated many years before, the monsters have been freed from his influence and are actually quite peaceful — but suddenly, one day, the Demon King comes back to life, and the monsters start raging again.

 

 

[[I Thought That Was|Not to be confused with]] the Konami 3D [[Fighting Game]] ''[[Lightning Legend Daigo no Daibouken]]''.

----

* [[Action Girl]] Maamu, Leona, Emi and Princess Fiora.

* [[The Ace]] Dai; Aban; Baran

** Merle blames herself for not having enough courage to {{spoiler|confess her love when she had the chance, and begs Pop to say the name of the woman he loves, so she could learn what real courage looks like. After a moment of hesitation, Pops ask her to forgive him, because the woman he loves is Maamu. Keep in mind that Pop's confession is made in the middle of a battlefield, when Dai and company are about to assault Vearn's fortress for the definitive battle and Merle is literally dying on Pop's arms: Maamu gets crushed by Pop's confession and to make things even worse, seconds later Merle dies in Pop's arms. (She gets better, thanks to Pop having a [[Heroic BSOD]] that launched his magical ability off the scale.)}}

*** Think it's already dramatic enough? {{spoiler|Wrong! Maamu didn't take this confession very well and rejected Pop right off the bat, only to feel crushed by guilt later. (The way she treated him, the way Pop's odd behavior suddenly made sense, and the way she kept asking him for advice about her crush on Hyunkel... So yeah.}}

* [[The Atoner]] Hyunkel.

* [[Badass]]

* [[Battle Aura]]

* [[Break the Cutie]] Baran; Hadler and Vearn's numerous attempts at making Dai snap and/or join their ranks.

* [[Can't Catch Up]] mild subversion: While it's true that Dai's friends can't catch up with him, if it weren't for them he would have died ''every single time'' he battled one of the six generals.

* [[Chrome Champion]] the Shinei Kidan are made out of the legendary metal Orihalcon. It turns out it makes them not only [[Made of Shiny]] but also [[Made of Explodium]].

* [[Chekhov's Gun]] Avan's pendants, the Mirror of Shahal, {{spoiler|Gome}}

* [[Cowardly Lion]]: Even pre-[[Character Development]], Pop was showing signs of being this. By the end of the series he's discarded all of his cowardness and represents the pillar of Courage.

* [[Crazy Prepared]] Avan. Just... Avan.

* [[Cue the Sun]]: Dai receives {{spoiler|his father's sword}} this way in the final battle against Vearn.

* [[Cut Short]] The anime ends after Dai's first encounter with Baran, which is less than a third through the Manga's full length, and which also ends on a rather different way. In the Anime {{spoiler|Baran is overwhelmed by the strength of Dai's bond with his friends, and he concedes the battle because of it}}. But in the Manga {{spoiler|Baran decides to cut this bond by erasing Dai's memories before retreating to gather his comrades}}. Needless to say, [[Left Hanging|it would have been more infuriating]] if they took the Manga route in this case.

* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Crocodine sadly loses his status as a main character after {{spoiler|Flora asks Leona to join the team as Aban's hypothetical fifth disciple.}}

** Subverted, as he did in fact participate in the final battle against the [[Big Boss]]. His battle abilities fitted his role at the time, which is spectator. Also, Dai and Co. needed to at least grow out of his shadow, having been rescued by him for so many times

* [[Deus Ex Machina]] - Dai's hidden abilities, though a nice plot arc is eventually made of it.

* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: Baran. Also Hyunkel, & {{spoiler|Killvearn.}}

* [[Evil Counterpart]] Hyunkel, before his [[Heel Face Turn]]

** Baran also gives a fairly good idea of what Dai could become if he grew disillusioned with humankind.

* [[Fantastic Nuke]] The dreaded Black Cores. On the back-story, one of them was powerful enough to destroy an entire continent

* [[Feed It a Bomb]] Pop pulls a particularly brutal variation of this by unleashing a fire ray spell into a dragon's mouth. Its rider was not pleased, [[Unstoppable Rage|at all]].

* [[Fille Fatale]] Leona is very aware of her charms. Averted with Maamu, who doesn't realize she's very attractive.

* [[First Girl Wins]]: Played straight with Dai and Leona. Awesomely subverted with Pop, as after the final battle {{spoiler|he gets BOTH Maamu and Merle!}}

* [[Final First Hug]] Baran.

** Dai - [[The Hero]]

** Maamu - [[The Medic]]

** Crocodine - [[The Big Guy]]

** Leona - [[The Chick]]

** Later, Flora asks Leona to join the team as Aban's hypothetical fifth disciple and Crocodine is more or less [[Demoted to Extra|relegated to the background]]. {{spoiler|When Aban conveniently reappears, he recognizes her as part of the team and as the disciple he'd have chosen}}.

* [[Foe Yay]] Hadler's obsession with Aban grows as he becomes a [[Worthy Opponent|more honourable villain]] who wants to defeat Dai in a fair fight. So obsessed that he starts lecturing the heroes' team if they don't live up to his image of what Aban's disciples should be and eventually {{spoiler|saves Dai in a spectacular [[Heel Face Turn]]}}. By the same token, he grows obsessed by Dai and gives passionate speeches about how the only thing that excites him and keeps him alive is the idea of fighting Dai. [[Squick|We suggest you don't count at how many levels it's wrong]].

** The Dragon Knights themselves were created by the gods by fusing Human, Dragon, and Demon traits to create the ultimate killing machine.

* [[Flight]] Not quite common, but some characters can use it via the spell Toberuura.

* [[Fridge Brilliance]]: Pop {{spoiler|suddenly becomes a Sage just before the final battle.}} The bios show that Pop has an extremely high luck stat, and he serves as the [[Butt Monkey]] of the team, similar to the Jester/Gadabout class from the games. {{spoiler|This was the only class that naturally possessed the ability to become a sage without a special item.}}

* [[Generation Xerox]] (emphasized by the fact that Maamu's father was on Aban's team and that princess Flora is practically just an older Leona.)

* [[Genius Ditz]] Dai and Pop start out as this.

* [[Grand Theft Me]] {{spoiler|Myst-Vearn's modus operandi}}

* [[Hannibal Lecture]] Vearn. Just...Vearn.

* [[Hard Work Hardly Works]] Subverted. While Dai's friends cannot catch up to Dai's level of power, they all go through harsh trainings to increase their powers and are able to assist Dai tremendously. There are always multiple threats that need to be dealt with Dai's being only able to tackle the strongest one.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]] Many characters including Aban; {{spoiler|Pop}}; {{spoiler|Baran}}; {{spoiler|Merle}}; {{spoiler|Hadler}}; at the very end, {{spoiler|Dai himself, though it's strongly hinted at that he somehow survived since his sword still shines}}.

** Some of them actually survived the experience, like {{spoiler|Aban}}; {{spoiler|Pop}} and {{spoiler|Merle}}

* [[Hopeless Boss Fight]] The first encounter of Dai's group with Demon Lord Vearn turned this way.

* [[Impossibly Cool Clothes]] - Everybody, but especially the magic armors that Hyunkel has.

* [[Infant Immortality]] Dai was found as a baby in a classic baby Moses cradle on the sea.

* [[Jerkass Facade]] Hyunkel and Baran want you to know they're ''macho''. In Baran's case, paired with a [[Defrosting Ice Queen]] process.

* [[Kid Hero]]: the main characters

* [[Killed Off for Real]] {{spoiler|Baran}} and his team {{spoiler|except Laharlt, who returns for the final battle arc}}; {{spoiler|Hadler}} and his team {{spoiler|except Hym, who's believed to inherit Hadler's soul}}.

* [[Large Ham]] Crocodine; Hadler and Baran, in a more edgy and cynical style.

*** It was made into anime. Unfortunately, it was canceled before the story finished. No Brian, although. Link to opening http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[[R Jt H 7 p Ouq Rk]]

* [[Made of Explodium]] The Shinei Kidan explode when they die, and there's a good reason to it [[Fridge Brilliance|that's not explicitly stated in the Manga]]: Since their bodies are made of the extremely rare and powerful Orihalcon, it would be disadvantageous for them if the heroes could scavenge their remnants to forge some new weapons and/or armor with them.

** For the same reason, their severed body parts also tend to explode.

* [[The Messiah]] Dai, evident by the answer Crocodine gives Baran when he asks why he gives it all to protect Dai: "Before I met him I thought humans were worthless, but he showed me I was wrong. And not only me, Hyunkel was like that too... to us, Dai is our Sun."

* [[Monster Clown]] Kill-Vearn reaches [[Hunter X Hunter|Hisoka]] levels.

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] Aban is a strange mixture of this and [[Cloudcuckoolander|CloudCuckoolanderism]]. The proportion of both is [[Alternate Character Interpretation|up for debate]].

* [[Oblivious to Love]]: Maamu is completely oblivious to Pop's feelings for her, while Pop doesn't realize that Merle has been in love with him since they first met. Meanwhile, their friends sigh and facepalm.

* [[Oedipus Rex]] Dai's conflictual relationship with Baran. Played for laughs with Pop's [[Jerkass Facade|brutal blacksmith dad]].

* [[Only Sane Man]]: Maamu.

* [[The Power of Friendship]]

** Hadler and his Shinei Kidan learned to get their own as well, much to Dai and company's surprise.

* [[The Psycho Rangers]] The Shinei Kidan develop this kind of dynamic when confronted with Dai's group

* [[Redemption Equals Death]] {{spoiler|Baran and Hadler, oh so much}}.

** Subverted by Crocodile, as he came back to life later and pulled a [[Heel Face Turn]]

* [[Ridiculously Human Robot]] the Shinei Kidan amount to this.

* [[Rule of Cool]] - All the time. The writer even confesses to writing in abilities and spells that are not in the Dragon Quest franchise for the sake of coolness.

* [[Shounen]]

* [[Shrinking Violet]] Merle fits this trope like a glove. The fact that she is Maamu's polar opposite and how she is painfully aware of how Pop only has eyes for Maamu makes it hurt even more.

* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] (with its emphasis on [[The Power of Friendship]] and its easy [[Heel Face Turn|conversion of villains]], the series is close to the far end of the idealism side. At the root of the conflict with Vearn and his demon army, who've been living in less than ideal conditions while humans were having it good, from their point of view.

* [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]] subverted: after normal troops prove to be no match for Dai's team, the [[Big Bad]] sends his best warriors — the six generals — after him.

*** Granted, from the moment Crocodine failed, Hadler had wanted to send all 6 of his generals at once, but the order was belayed by the [[Big Bad]]

* [[Story Arc]]

* [[Taking the Bullet]] Plenty of examples. Crocodile actually used this as his main fighting tactic against {{spoiler|Baran}} to buy time for Dai.

* [[Team Mom]] - The aptly named Marm, who even represents Compassion.

* [[Team Pet]] Gome, which {{spoiler|also happens to be a literal miracle bringer created by the Gods.}}

** Also, Chu the karateka mouse.

** You know you're a badass when you {{spoiler|use a spell even after dying.}}

** This gets even more evident when, during the final battle against Vearn {{spoiler|Pop quickly discovers the weak point on Vearn's absolutely invincible battle stance, then cleverly turns Vearn's power against him (allowing Dai to cut one of Vearn's arms off) and even neutralizing Vearn's ultimate magic attack with ease, all while staring at him with a "take that" expression on his face.}}

* [[Warp Whistle]] Hadler uses an artifact named Chimera's Wings to retreat after his humiliating defeat during his first fight with Dai

** The spell Ruura also works this way, being a teleportation spell that requires a clear image of the location where the user intends to go; therefore, it's only possible to transport to locations he/she has already visited.

** Avan himself fits this trope, as he wasn't abnormally strong. His skills and superhuman intelligence, however...

* [[Whip Sword]] Hyunkel's weapon.

* [[Worthy Opponent]] Baran, after he and Dai both collapse exhausted after battling. {{spoiler|Hadler}} eventually becomes this too, along with his {{spoiler|Shinei Kidan}}.

* [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair]] (and ridiculous oversize curls, Aban. Also notice Maamu's pink hair and Leona's orange/beige hair.)

[[Category:Anime]]

[[Category:Manga]]